Special Envoy Ric Grenell Says No DEI in LA Fire Cleanup: ‘That Bullsh*t Can’t Happen’
EPA Chief Lee Zeldin says agency is working ‘around the clock‘ to clean up L.A. Fires
By Katy Grimes, February 7, 2025 2:55 am
The Globe was on the ground Thursday in Pacific Palisades. The fire destruction was horrific. The charred smell of homes and their contents is prevalent. Pacific Palisades residents – some who lost their homes completely, and some whose homes were still intact – were present and determined to get answers.
President Trump’s Special Envoy Ric Grenell is the White House representative on the ground in California, making things happen with residents, and representatives from federal, state and local agencies.
Grenell and newly confirmed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin met with residents amid the fire devastation in the Pacific Palisades. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Major General Jason Kelly was there, as was Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regional administrator Bob Fenton, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, as were many colleagues and staffers, talking with residents.
Grenell facilitated discussion between residents, who are living in motels, hotels VRBO and AirBNB rentals, and government officials, to solve residents’ immediate and prepare for long term concerns.
And notably, at one point, Grenell warned federal, state and local officials to cut the bullshit pushing DEI for subcontractors on debris removal. He told them to bring in all contracting teams who want to help.
“That bullshit can’t happen,” Ric Grenell said. He said that he was aware that hiring contractors for debris removal of the Palisades’ burned homes was stymied because they were trying to find “the right mix” of DEI-approved contractors. Grenell advocated for allowing contractors from all over the country to work in LA. “I don’t care about the color of their skin. “I don’t care if they’re in a wheelchair. We want people to be able to do the job and get it done, and not hold up because we have some quota system.”
Breitbart’s Editor at large, Joel Pollak, a Palisades resident, showed the Globe where the fire started at the top of a nearby hill next to Kobe Bryant’s old home. And then it jumped across Palisades Drive and burned most of the Palisades homes, schools and businesses, down the hills to the ocean within 36 hours.
The beautiful high-end mall built by developer Rick Caruso is in tact and looks as if it could open tomorrow. Locals told the Globe that Carusso hired private fire fighters, water tankers, and had hardened his mall for fire, commenting that this is what could and should have been possible for all of the Palisades.
The Globe asked EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin what his biggest, “macro” concern was.
He said that together with President Donald Trump, they have shortened the EPA timeline from 90-days to 30-days.
And they’ve already done 7,000 home assessments, Zeldin said. The EPA’s role is to is perform the hazardous waste cleanup, which the EPA says is the largest in the history of the agency. “The agency has successfully removed 80 electric vehicles and bulk energy storage systems, which are extremely dangerous to the public and the environment and will continue ramping up such operations.”
The biggest issues for the residents is getting a formal “right of entry” back into the homes still standing, from the county.
Mayor Bass told residents that groups of neighborhoods could opt-in together as a neighborhood and get more debris removal and clean up done at one time.
Grenell warned that there will be strings and conditions on the federal funds coming to LA because of California’s untenable state and local environmental regulations, and crazy laws.
And Grenell said, “Whether it’s FEMA, whether it’s the Army Corps of Engineers, stop the duplicitous messaging. We need to tell these residents, ‘you cleanup, you start immediately. No one is stopping you. We’re here to help. And I do think that the Army Corps of Engineers has to move a lot faster. You’ve got more people here, more help… I know you’ve got one preferred contractor… bring in three… bring in four. This is massive. This is so hard for us to handle. And it’s my job to bulldoze through this stuff and say, ‘let people start cleaning up.’ The agencies, the government is here to help the people – not the other way around.” Here is Ric Grenell explaining this:
Joe Pollak told the Globe and posted on X something very concerning – scammers are stealing the identities of people applying for FEMA funds:
@FEMA answered my question today about the phenomenon of fraud/identity theft — scammers claiming FEMA funds by using other people’s addresses! Report to FEMA, L.A. County DA, etc. Good info for those in the #PalisadesFire or #EatonFire
“General Kelly told Breitbart News that although the initial assumption of the Army Corps of Engineers was that it would take 18 months for all the debris to be removed — from nearly 7,000 destroyed structures across 24,000 acres — he now believed that he could do it faster. ‘I’m going to tell you right now: I plan to beat a year.’”
“He said that the sense of urgency applied not just to the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, but also to Altadena and Pasadena as well. The latter communities were hit hard by the Eaton Fire, which burned at the same time as the Palisades Fire.”
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YEAH, RIGHT, brand spankin’ new boots, sneakers and clothes right outta the box. Can’t they be more authentic and less photo-op-ish? Prolly not, amirite? I expect this from HairGelHitler, but not one of us. C’mon, guys…
see them in a week.
we have soldiers who should get in on this “action” because training?
thank you Ms Grimes for going there.
AND Ms Bass (pronouns bureaucracy personified) hasn’t changed her striped a bit.
Most of the people who lost their homes in Santa Cruz County because of the CZU Fire in 2020 have been unable to rebuild. The county has placed insane roadblocks preventing permitting and construction. The home hardening requirements are reasonable but the cost of geological reports and engineered septic and water systems run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars before a foundation can be poured. I can only hope this doesn’t happen to the people who lost their homes in the LA area.
I breathed a sigh of relief to see the Katy Grimes’ hands-on coverage of this nightmare and to realize that the foot-dragging villainous entourage of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and the other Usual Suspects (who knows what they are really up to? – see Lahaina?) has solid and practical opposition in Ric Grennell, Lee Zeldin, and others who represent the cut-through-the-B.S. Trump administration, and whose directives and guidance will actually HELP the victims who would like to revive this hellscape ASAP.
It’s my understanding that Rick Caruso has also put together a team — the opposite of the red-tape foot-draggers from L.A. govt and bureaucracy — that will provide good resources for efficiency, competence, and quality for those who want to rebuild. The best architects, contractors, financial resources, etc. And from what I understand, 99% want to rebuild.
Thank you so much Katy Grimes and The Globe. This on-the-site coverage — from a trusted and sensible point of view, as opposed to the unhelpful coverage that apparently only repeats deflating and depressing L.A. govt press-releases —- is so valuable for all of us who desperately want the best outcome for everyone affected by this disaster.
The Newsom administration shut down Team Blaze, a volunteer wildfire unit under Newsom’s command, in January 2024 which rendered the California National Guard incapable of sending a complete firefighting detachment to fight the Los Angeles fires until 10 days after the flames broke out, the Washington Free Beacon reported. In response to that report, Newsom’s press office on Jan. 24 disparaged the former firefighters of Team Blaze, calling the disbanded unit a “small, inadequately trained volunteer reserve component” that wasn’t fit to fight wildfires in California. Military records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show that Newsom’s administration had previously given the unit an award for “outstanding performance” that cited its exemplary “wildland firefighting training.”
Gov. Gavin “Hair-gel Hitler” Newsom and deep-state legislative Democrats knew exactly what they were doing with this latest land grab which was made with malicious precision intent?
(https://freebeacon.com/california/gavin-newsom-said-the-wildfire-team-he-disbanded-was-inadequately-trained-his-own-administration-gave-it-an-award-for-outstanding-performance/)
Thanks for posting, TJ. This is HUGE, a super-scandal, or certainly SHOULD be, for Newsom & Co., but apparently didn’t receive much coverage beyond the Free Beacon and Daily Signal, both national outlets. Almost looks as though the Gov’s office somehow managed to “discourage” any local coverage, given its incendiary nature for Newsom. However, Katy Grimes and the Globe were on it nonetheless, and with additional interviews & etc.:
“Why Was California State Guard Volunteer Firefighting Force Dismantled?”
https://californiaglobe.com/fr/why-was-california-state-guard-volunteer-firefighting-force-dismantled/
TJ – The Globe covered Shutdown of the CA State Guard:
Why Was California State Guard Volunteer Firefighting Force Dismantled?
The calamitous contagion of DEI into the state’s most important public safety institutions will haunt California for decades.
https://californiaglobe.com/fr/why-was-california-state-guard-volunteer-firefighting-force-dismantled/
Alex Jones: Gavin Newsom Declares Palisades Property Owners Cannot Rebuild— Unless Under His Neo-Feudal Rule (https://banned.video/watch?id=67a673577de871f630744dc2)
More about the Santa Cruz fire rebuild fiasco.
https://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/residents-struggle-to-recover-from-2020-santa-cruz-mountains-fire
Anyone familiar with Santa Cruz politics will not be surprise that the country was so willfully negligent in handling the rebuild. Just surprised that the Grand Jury was willing to state in such blunt terms just how incompetent the county was (and still is). Hardly surprising as any city / country government dominated by the votes of UC students and faculty is always profoundly dysfunctional. Like Berkeley. Santa Barbara dodged a bullet by keeping their UC inside the Isla Vista reservation and outside city limits.
Yes, tfourier. There are actual front page stories in the local Santa Cruz newspaper of political operatives providing free donuts to UC Santa Cruz students on election day while encouraging them to register and vote on election day. “Will vote commie for a free apple fritter.” God help us.
I’ve felt since the start that the city of LA wants the Palisades for themselves, 15 minute city or something. They didn’t even care that it was mostly full of their wealthy dem donors, they set the stage to let it burn should the opportunity arise. I know four people who lost their homes there. Some are older and can’t rebuild, one is wealthy and can rebuild but doesn’t want to deal with it all. Just what Bass & Newsom were hoping for. Planned for sure. And Miss DEI herself, head of the DWP… are you kidding me? Gross negligence and incompetence throughout LA City elected officials and staff. And all are STILL employed! Disgusting!!!
Developer and businessman Rick Caruso sounds like a man who wants to run for L.A. Mayor again in 2026. Gave me a boost to listen to his point of view; so different from the L.A. swamp stuff and optimistic for the future.
Long but worthwhile interview with Joe Rogan:
Joe Rogan Experience interviews Rick Caruso:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-44tAVI7OEg
One more post and then I’ll quit — I promise 🙂
“Architectural Landmarks Lost in the L.A. Fires”
“The deadly blazes have claimed at least 24 lives and numerous architecturally significant landmarks.”
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/architecture-houses-lost-los-angeles-fires-2598556
It appears Gavin returned from his meeting with POTUS empty handed? I can’t find any published news about the meeting’s results so I assume Trump spanked him and sent him home to Aunt Nancy. Further evidence is that he signed the “Trump proofing” legislation after returning. Voter ID no doubt was too much for Gavin to commit to as it assures a Democrat Party collapse in California. Keep the faith California, it’s darkest before the dawn
Yes, I agree @Gold Country Dude. POTUS is putting the squeeze on Newscum and the DemocRats for policy changes. One of the main policy changes, in addition to voter ID and water policy, is to reduce wildfire fuel with better forest management. Newscum and Dems have been negligent on this in order to satisfy their Environment Nazi supporters. Canada supplies 80% of the lumber (Douglas Fir) for homes on the west coast. Globe contributor Mr. Edward Ring and others testified in Congress recently that the lumber industry in Calfornia should be brought back to clear the forests of dead standing timber and brush. Communities like Palisades and Altadena are now in desperate need of materials to start rebuilding so this would be a common sense solution economically. Especially since imported lumber is more expensive than domestic and we are now in a tariff dispute with Canada so the price of imported timber will likely skyrocket. However, I predict that Dems will double down on their policies and try to start their LA 2.0 instead. They will use the Olympics as a marketing scheme to rebuild LA. Unincorporated Altadena would be the perfect location for the leftists to try and create their prototype utopian city, like the one proposed for Rio Vista in Solano county. They would get more political push back from their high income Palisades home owners.
They got what they voted for! No sympathy. They will push the D button next election.
The Grift is On! Soboroff to get 500k for 3 months “work”.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/08/grenell-calls-out-bass-appointed-la-fire-recovery-chief-500k-3-month-salary-gross-offensive/
Oh NO. Here we go! So glad Grennell is on this stuff and blasting it, reminding these disgusting people it’s not gonna fly. Thanks for posting, CW.
And then there’s this:
“Bass Hires Illinois Consulting Firm Led By Far Left Politician to Support Fire Recovery Process”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/02/08/la-mayor-bass-hires-illinois-consulting-firm-led-by-far-left-politician-to-support-fire-recovery-process/
This is how Karen Bass does penance for being the worst, most disgusting miserable failure of a mayor after these disastrous fires? By engaging in the same back-scratching hires of her useless idiot lefty partners-in-crime as she has always done, the same actions that led to this horror and misery in the first place? Can we please not forget, Kommie Karen, that people lost their precious lives, loved ones and homes?
Un-freaking-believable